The Chinese smartphone village broke out in a new war: Will Apple ‘lose position’ before this ‘unexpected’ name?

Apple or Oppo?

Apple (USA) and Oppo (China) are the top 2 smartphone brands in the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2023, in the context that this market is “shrinking” here.

According to the latest data provided by IDC, Shenzhen-based Oppo has the largest shipment rate, reaching 19.6%, followed by Apple’s iPhone.

However, judging by sales and shipments, Apple still took the top spot in the last three months of last year after releasing the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro series, according to Canalys – a global technology market analysis company. leading and industry analysis firm Counterpoint said.

For most of the past year, activity in the Chinese smartphone market has dropped significantly by double-digit rates.

Sales of handsets using the Android operating system plummeted, for example phones made by Oppo. In addition, Apple’s iPhone product lines are equally affected.

Canalys added that shipments to China fell 11% in the first quarter of 2023 year-on-year – the lowest for the first quarter in a decade.

Market share strategy

However, IDC emphasized that the strategy of reducing the prices of iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models was effective in February, although the company also launched a new yellow iPhone 14, but it did not make a big impact. In early March, Apple launched a new color in the hope of attracting buyers – with prices as low as 5,999 yuan ($870) in China.

As for Oppo, it sold more products with higher prices than expected in the last quarter. The growth is partly due to the return of the OnePlus sub-brand to the domestic market, along with its newly launched folding phone line that has received many positive reviews.

Besides, Samsung Electronics, the world leader in smartphones and folding phones, has only a small share of the market share in the country of billions of people. The reason is that many domestic brands in this country have launched at least one foldable phone model.

Bloomberg also reported that, up to now, none of the five largest suppliers in China has recorded positive growth. Vivo, Honor Mobile and Xiaomi Corp. are the top brands but there is a significant decrease compared to the same period last year.

In addition, official data also shows that this year, smartphone production has decreased by 13.8% in the world’s second largest economy despite the economy has recovered.

Canalys analyst Lucas Zhong said in a recent report: “ The pandemic has affected consumer behavior as they tend to spend their income on necessities and maintain their savings. certain savings. Manufacturers need to come up with more attractive products to stimulate consumer behavior .”

Refer to Bloomberg